TeleGeography Research has tracked wholesale bandwidth prices for capacities ranging from T-1/E-1 to 10-Gbps wavelengths for several years. Data points represent wholesale, POP-to-POP SDH/Sonet and DWDM circuits, exclusive of local access.
In 2006, TeleGeography added survey data for Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) and Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps) Ethernet over SDH/Sonet services, based on the growing number of carriers deploying long-haul Ethernet. Prices are for full, protected circuits and are collected as monthly recurring lease charges in U.S. dollars. Install fees do not apply, and the price per megabit is calculated from the carrier-provided MRC (monthly recurring charge).
We saw numerous carrier long-haul Ethernet roll-outs in 2006, though the service is still far from ubiquitous. For example, in a midsize U.S. city such as Denver, long-haul Sonet customers can choose from more than a dozen providers but, according to TeleGeography's most recent surveys, Denver has fewer than 10 providers offering long-haul Ethernet. Cities on the coasts generally see 20 to 30 service providers offering Sonet, compared with 10 to 15 long-haul Ethernet providers. Only New York boasts more than 20 Ethernet competitors, with 36 companies providing long-haul Sonet.
In Europe, TeleGeography has seen somewhat similar trends, though most European cities have more service providers selling long-haul Ethernet service than their North American counterparts. Thirty-one carriers offer long-haul Ethernet in London, with 40 providers selling long-haul SDH. Competition is similar for larger cities like Paris and Frankfurt, Germany. Madrid, Spain; Milan, Italy; Stockholm, Sweden; and other smaller metro areas are closer to U.S. levels, with about 10 to 15 Ethernet providers as compared to 20 to 25 SDH providers.
Based on 2006 pricing data and conversations with pricing managers at major global and regional carriers, TeleGeography has determined that POP-to-POP long-haul Ethernet circuits are priced at a premium compared with SDH/Sonet. On most intra-U.S. routes TeleGeography surveys, wholesale customers pay approximately 15 percent to 30 percent more per megabit for GigE, compared with an OC-12 (622 Mbps) link. The price bump is somewhat higher--sometimes dramatically so--when comparing FastE to STM-1/OC-3 (155 Mbps) on intra-Europe and trans-Atlantic routes.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
